Funding for a loans scheme to refill empty homes in the Dover district is doubling.

Dover District Council’s cabinet on Monday agreed to allow another £300,000 on top of the same sum agreed in July 2017, leading to a total budget now of £600,000.

This is for No Use Empty, a scheme with Kent County Council lending money to owners to pay for repairs and improvements to refill disused homes.

The extra money follows previous success in this scheme and popular demand for it.

The original £300,000 was successfully allocated by October last year, providing 24 dwellings on four properties in Dover town centre, an officers’ report says.

The interest-free loans are a maxmimum £25,000 for each property.

The repayment period is 36 months, with first sums now due by June 2021, but KCC has usually got its money back earlier.

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